Rubbish

In cities at home, you hear lots of news stories and public service announcements about reducing waste so as not to add to the landfill. The problem with these and the reason that the landfill continues to grow is that “the landfill” is largely a theoretical concept. Few people ever see this mythical “landfill” with their own eyes, so it is pretty difficult to get worried about something that may or may not actually exist. As far as most people are concerned, you put garbage in a can, take the can to the curb and it disappears by the end of the day. Where has it gone? Who cares? It’s garbage!

Garbage does not disappear here; it continues to pile up until someone eventually sets the pile on fire with little regard for the toxic fumes created by the burning of plastic. Mounds of tattered plastic bags and squashed water bottles develop at various places around the city and even spill out into the road at times. (If it were feasible to fix potholes by filling them with garbage, this would be a different place, let me tell you!)

As if the piles of trash weren’t unsightly enough on their own, these dump sites tend to attract flocks of marabou storks which are quite possibly the UGLIEST creatures on the planet. I imagine that at some point, marabou storks must have lived in some green and natural habitat, but I’ve only ever seen them picking through overflowing dumpsters in urban environments. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if the phrase “you are what you eat” originally referred to marabou storks.

As someone who has gained a slightly different perspective on garbage over the last few months, I would urge you to consider leaving your garbage man a token of appreciation for the valuable and vital work he does. Having garbage that disappears on a weekly basis is cause for great celebration, believe me! Oh yeah, while you’re at it, you should probably reduce waste as well, so as not to add to the landfill. If you’re not careful, the marabou storks might hear that if the garbage picking is good in Africa, North America is a regular carrion-eater’s Valhalla and a marabou migration is about the last thing anyone should want to encourage!

Fruit

Any produce market here offers juicy pineapple, delicious mangoes, exotic passion fruit, sweet watermelon and mouth-watering papaya. The flavour of these tropical fruits far exceeds the paltry imported versions you can buy in Canada and once you’ve tasted pineapple that has been allowed to ripen in the sun and picked that day, with its bright yellow colour and its sugary sweet juice, you can never really be satisfied with the slightly tart and rather tough “pineapple” sold in the Safeway produce section.

Yes, one can get rather spoiled having all of these fresh tropical fruits so readily available, and as those in the Northern Hemisphere head into the doldrums of November dreading the “fresh produce-less” winter months ahead, one can imagine that heaven’s gardens are cultivated solely with mangoes and passion fruit.

I would likely have believed that myself a few months ago, but I had an experience yesterday that showed me how easy it is for the “exotic” to become mundane. I was invited to a birthday party that was attended by several members of the ex-patriate community here in Masaka; there was a delicious spread on the buffet table and we ate on an outdoor patio with a stunning view of the surrounding area. It was a really lovely time; the chocolate birthday cake was served with ice cream, but then a fruit salad appeared on the table...

This salad had cubes of fresh mango and pineapple and was elegantly served in an emptied out watermelon. It was received politely until people noticed that mixed into the local fruit were fresh blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. It was quite the sight to witness what happened next. Within minutes, the berries had disappeared from the salad leaving only the tropical fruit in the bowl; the British, American, Danish and Canadian guests couldn’t scoop those berries fast enough! I don’t even think the Ugandan guests got the chance to taste the foreign fruit.

It became clear to me that depending on the context, the “familiar” can easily become the “exotic.” (and by the way, I didn’t get any berries either! Guess I’m stuck with boring old papaya and guava....sigh.....)

Bazungu

In Luganda (the dominant language in this region) a white person is called a muzungu; I hear that word a lot. When travelling through the rural areas little kids will wave and shout “Muzungu! Muzungu!” as we drive by. A guy at a market stall will say “Muzungu” in order to get my attention and then indicate that I should check out what he is selling. It is often the only word I understand if I hear a group of people talking in Luganda, so I know that it is very likely they’re talking about me! The word is so ubiquitous that tourist shops sell t-shirts that read “My name is not muzungu!” The plural form of the word is bazungu. It is simply unavoidable--we bazungu stand out around here. In terms of appearance, however, there is so much more than our skin colour that distinguishes us from the Ugandans.

When I see how the local women dress and carry themselves words like elegant, poised, statuesque, graceful, and even regal come to mind. They walk with perfect posture; they never seem to be in a hurry; their dresses are perfectly pressed, and even amongst the dust in the village, their whites sparkle. In contrast, when I observe bazungu women, words like harried, comfortable, practical, ill-fitting, or frumpy come to mind. We wear Velcro sandals, while the Ugandans wear high heels. We carry nylon purses or backpacks with lots of useful pockets, while the Ugandans carry fancy handbags.

Bazungu always have water bottles in our hands; we really like khaki and denim; we use a lot of hand sanitizer; we can’t seem to keep our hair under control; we often look flushed and a little sweaty; we are always in a rush; we pull out our cameras a lot. We are just so obvious...and it makes me smile.

I, unfortunately, cannot exclude myself from the above description. I try to keep my clothes ironed. I try not to take out my camera too much. I try to vary my footwear for different occasions. However, comfort and practicality tend to win most of the time. We are a funny bunch of folks to watch and observing other members of my race continues to keep me entertained.

Security

From purely anecdotal evidence, I think the security industry may be one of the biggest employers of young men in this country. You see guys dressed in sharp uniforms walking around with large guns all the time. They sit outside supermarkets, hotels, banks and offices--even schools employ armed guards. Most houses are surrounded by very high brick walls with broken glass or large spikes cemented in at the top to deter thieves and I’m getting used to driving up to large metal gates and honking the horn so a guard can let the vehicle in. You have to take security seriously around here.

We don’t have armed guards, but we do have two dogs that bark a fair bit and jump up at the front gate when someone arrives. They’re great for security because they can’t be bribed to look the other way while someone breaks in, and many people here are afraid of dogs. The ones we have are part German Shepherd and part Rhodesian Ridgeback (a type that was originally bred for hunting lions!) Sounds vicious, right? We’re pretty sure that if there were some kind of serious threat, their tough instincts would kick in. However, most of the time, they look like this:

We’re in good hands!

Powerlessness

It is now the fifth day in a row where we have had extended power outages during the day; the worst was Saturday when we had no electricity for over 12 hours! This situation has a “good news/bad news” kind of feel to it.

The good news is that we have a propane stove and can cook food and boil drinking water even when the power is off. The bad news is that the food spoils in our electric fridge and we have to throw lots of our groceries out before we get the chance to cook them.

The good news is that we have running water in our home and can even take real showers. The bad news is that the water heater is electric, so those morning showers can get a bit chilly (even in the hot weather!)

The good news is that we have a washing machine at the house and if we put in a load in the morning, the clothes have a chance to dry on the line throughout the day. The bad news is that when the power is out in the morning our laundry continues to pile up. Or, if the power goes out mid-cycle we have to deal with soapy, dripping clothes for an undetermined period of time.

The good news is that the power tends to come back on in the early evening. The bad news is that we’re sleeping overnight and can’t take advantage of it!

I am taking steps to survive these challenges, however, and recently invested in a rechargeable fluorescent lantern (imported from Dubai.) I have a lot of faith in this product as, according to the user’s manual if I “set power switch to the lighten position, then connect it to the pointed electricity power, it will be an excellent emergency light automatically when it is in the shortage of electricity power.”

SWEET! If only I knew what that meant!

Imports

Each meal here seems to involve a trip around the globe. I had peach jam from South Africa and granola from the UK for breakfast; the rice I ate for dinner last night came from India; the crackers I enjoyed for a snack were from Hong Kong and a glance in the pantry shows tomato paste imported from Dubai, olives from Spain and tuna from Thailand. Similarly, while shopping in Kampala this weekend, I was pleased to find cranberry sauce from the US to serve at our Thanksgiving dinner.

It is quite amazing to see not only the variety of goods available here in Uganda these days but also how far these goods have travelled to get to my table. The carbon footprint of many meals I have eaten here is a bit staggering when I think about it! However, much of the produce I eat on a daily basis easily falls within the boundaries of a 100 Mile Diet. In order for you to enjoy the same items in Canada, they would have to have been transported a long way; I figure these things should sort of cancel each other out.

For example, I buy pineapples, passion fruit, watermelon, mangoes, papayas and avocadoes from people who cultivate the land by hand and bring the goods to market on a bicycle. This should offset the fact that I buy imported cereal, mayonnaise, apples and fruit juice and have to drive 2 hours each way in order to purchase these luxury goods. Don’t you agree? Likewise, the milk powder that I put in my coffee comes from Holland, but since the sugar I add is grown and produced here, as is the coffee itself, I’ve basically achieved carbon neutrality, right?

So, here is the dilemma I’m facing: On the one hand there is the problem of climate change due to the emissions required to send these goods around the world. On the other hand, however, I have a really strong personal desire for comfort food while I’m a long way from home...

Given the fact that I’m anticipating enjoying cranberry sauce very soon, I think it’s fairly evident where I’ve landed on that one! My apologies to the polar bears.

Science

I’m not generally that interested in scientific phenomena (picture my fingers indicating quotation marks in the air), but here’s something for those that like that kind of thing.

Question: If water spins in one direction as it drains in the Northern Hemisphere and spins in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere, which direction does it drain right on the Equator?

Answer: It goes straight down without spinning at all.

Each trip I take to Kampala is a “trans-hemispherical” experience (I’m quite aware that isn’t actually a word!), and I had the opportunity to witness this phenomenon last week as we stopped at The Equator en route to the capital city. Over the years enterprising individuals have capitalized on the novelty of having this significant line of latitude run through the nation. They’ve painted a yellow line across the road indicating zero degrees and set up a place for people to have their photos taken. There are also several craft stalls in the area that sell souvenirs and a coffee shop that serves lattes and cappuccinos as well as freshly baked muffins and cookies (a distinctly “northern” menu that is rather ironically located on the south side of the line!)

Another interesting feature of this little tourist trap is the three basins that have been set up to show the water draining phenomenon—one on the Northern Hemisphere side, one on the Southern Hemisphere side, and one directly on the line. I watched a demonstration in the three basins, and it was pretty cool to see that the effect works so close to the actual line and also to realize that the water doesn’t spin at all right at zero degrees!

Perhaps I’ve been a bit starved for entertainment lately, or maybe Science is interesting after all!